Karma
by Eccentric Ecstasy
Summary: There's another world among us? We can solve our problems when we get there! And Seiyo's Student Council will stop at nothing to change their rightful fate.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

His fingers dawdled against the soft cottony land he lay himself flatly on. The air evaporated from it once his fingers came in contact; he swiftly slashed through it with his finger like a knife on cake. He sighed and closed his eyes boredom consumed his mind as he carelessly threw his book and his quill down from the cloud he lay in.

'1.' He stood up.

'2.' He neared the edge.

'3.' He fell down. Down. Down. Down, till his feet landed in a pond of air, safe and content of the sudden adrenaline. He then walked idly towards an open door separated from the land he walked on by a moat. He looked down at the edge of the water and a pair of eyes popped out and looked back at him. He blinked and the pair of eyes raised higher and revealed an huge and slimy alligator. The man looked ahead and stepped on the alligator, making it his path towards the door.

His hands neared the knob, without intention of opening it with his own fingers, the door read his mind and toppled down the opposite side of the man, showing an enormous room of books, paintings and more books.

He walked straight and after two book shelves turned right to a book shelf that had a crest carved roughly on its side and the shelf opposite that had a much better design of the crest. He went towards the direction of the rough-crested book shelf, hissing lowly at the other and picked the slimmest book. He opened it and soothed his finger against the sleek surface of the only page of the book...

In this world we dwell on, _lives are written on parchment_ and are carefully crafted on by _a quill of no withdrawal_. Every sentence is put to it's time. The parchment of a person's life is in a deep relationship with the Writer. Thoughts hidden within the Writer are expressed into event by the parchment with a powerful force called _destiny_ and _fate_.

_Writers_ are as what they seem. They are _immortal_ beings, born to continue life's prodigies by making their stories. Generation to generation every story… err -person's story -is acknowledged by humans at some point.

Just like in publishing companies, Writers are assisted by a staff that _makes sure the stories go as planned by the writer_. These assistants _come in any number the writer desires_. They are called _Watchers_.

Just like in this world we dwell on, there is law. There are people chosen to enforce the law. But there, policemen are called _Trackers_. The only unjust part of their system is the fact that they only serve the Writers, like Watchers serve the Writers. But the utterly obvious difference is, _Trackers hunt rouge Watchers_.

'The most boring book in the history of boring books has at last come to my unwilling attention' he smirked.

'Let's see...' he scanned his surroundings.

'Where'd you go, Qui? Park?' he asked himself.

He went hurriedly out of the room, stepped over the toppled door, brisked on the reptile's head and stared towards it. The door re-built itself, looking better than ever, and the alligator hid himself in the shallow water once again. He then nuged at the air with his elbow and had his Superman pose on as he zoomed back up to the cloud, finding his quill (Qui) and his parchment (Park) waiting for him.

'And from this point on our story continues...' he declared, his inspiration clinging in the back of his mind as he scribbled endlessly on the paper.


	2. Chapter 2

To Writer, Blake Ishiku, The World Up Above is a monotonically boring cage where they dump all the Writers. Things needed would appear from nowhere but things wanted would be longed and searched for some time. And preferred surroundings would suddenly change by their mood. Any other inhabitants are usually not anywhere in sight.

'It gets so tiring here' Blake thought. 'I wonder how my little darlings are…'

But back down at The Human World his Watchers Ruben and Ginger are having a slow day as well.

* * *

''Eeeeey!' said the invisible little curly haired girl as the also invisible, Dutch-looking boy pinched her cheeks wide. They sat firmly on a tree branch near the window of one of the Seiyo Elementary School Buildings. Inside the classroom, a math class was going on, where you would see a creamy light brown haired girl in pigtails frowning back and forth from her teacher to the blackboard then at her notes then back at her teacher again repeating the cycle vigorously, over and over.

'Subarashi!' the boy said moderately astonished at the girl. But the girl said nothing from the worry of looking embarrassing if she had talked in this situation.

'I love your soft cheeks Ginger' he commented with a huge smile as he let go, his finger gently slid away from her face. Ginger blushed and took the chance to take a breath. She rubbed her now pain-filled cheeks and pouted at the boy.

'Geez Ruben, the things you do when you're bored…I swear…Someday someone else is gonna have to put up with this someday…' she said lightly frowning at her remark.

Ruben stared at Yaya who beamed at her work and answered a number or two then doubtfully scratched her head after glancing back at the blackboard.

'Well for a genius Writer, Mr. Ishiku really is over-estimating us. I mean 10 stories-'he held out his palms in front of his face to greatly signify the number ten'-and he'd only assign two watchers on guard' he said as he held up two fingers then putting them down slowly and sighing at the ground.

The final bell rang and Yaya stood up immediately before the rest of the class could. She said something to the teacher that was inaudible to the Watchers due to the closed windows making it nearly sound proof. The two slid off the tree and continued watching over Yaya from the hallway. This time they were portraying ordinary students and stood right behind Yaya along with the crowd.

* * *

'Ah~' she groaned stretching her arms. 'Math class is finally over! Now off to Amu-chii and Rima-tan~!' she said finally skipping off.

The two, Ruben and Ginger, looked at each other with bored faces. They would've thought their master had something interesting in mind rather than let another boring day slip past.

Ginger checked her cellphone and Ruben checked his digital watch.

'Maybe tomorrow' Ruben said sounding casually disappointed.

'I'm sure of it.' Ginger assured with thumbs up and a soft smile.

Ruben smirked happily and softly pressed his pointing finger at her cheek. 'You might be getting too cute this time' he said.

'There will be no PDA in the hallways children' a teacher said passing them by. (A/N: PDA = Public Display of Affection)

Ruben's finger retreated with a frown while Ginger laughed at his reaction.

'What?' she asked cheerfully.

'Children…?' he said referring to what the teacher had addressed them before pessimistically.

'You're only 3 lifetimes old' she said raising a brow.

'So are _you_. Besides I think _students _would be a better term. I mean we should be of age in her eyes' he said looking ahead as they both took the same corridor Yaya was.

'Don't be so stubborn' she said laughing. They reached the open area near the great gate of students flooding out. She then stood in front of him to make him stop. He raised a brow at her and she placed a finger on each of the tips of her mouth, then formed an adorable smile.

'No' he said flatly. She rolled her eyes and continued walking beside him letting a contented smile show for a while, not knowing Ruben had been staring at her with the same smile. The second she turned her head to look at him, he looked ahead again forgetting to stop smiling. The atmosphere between the two was, to them, ordinary, while others would see it with a powerful suspicion of romance. For instance…

'Aww! Did you guys see that?' Amu said, touched at the two Watchers' theorized by her, romance. She then looked away from them and back to the conversation with Rima and Yaya, seeing that the two had gone ahead of them and were already out of sight so quickly.

'Is that the atmosphere you would like in a relationship, Amu?' Rima said quietly while they walked. Amu flushed a slight tint of pink when Tadase suddenly popped into her mind.

'I don't mean it like I want Tadase-kun to change like that or anything!' Amu said self-consciously.

'Of course! Even Amu-chii wouldn't be able to get an attitude like that girl!' Yaya said innocently swinging her bag back and forth as she walked.

'I didn't say anything about Tadase. You're the one who suddenly sucked him into the conversation' Rima said defensively with pure innocence.

Amu sweat dropped but Yaya continued to carelessly speak again. 'Well, the guy was more like Nagi-chan and the girl reminded me of Rima-tan in a super good mood!'

'You're thinking such ridiculous things again Yaya' Rima said in her usual stubborn act.

* * *

'Achoo!' Nagihiko sneezed back at school while he walked with Tadase and Kukai.

'Are you alright Fujisaki-kun?' Tadase asked worriedly. 'You may be catching a cold or something.'

'No. I'm sure it was nothing to worry about Hotori-kun' Nagi said.

'Maybe someone's talking about you' Kukai suggested with a grin.

'Who could _that_ be Souma-kun?' Nagi said raising a brow at his senpai.

'I was thinking the same thing…' Tadase wondered.

'I dunno. Secret Admirer maybe?' Kukai said groggily yawning. A cellphone beeped from one of the boys' pockets but only two checked. Tadase stood still confident his phone wasn't the one that rang.

Nagihiko checked his cellphone and accidentally pressed one of the buttons. Rima's number suddenly appeared and he serenely slid his phone back in his pocket with a subtle smile.

So it was Kukai's phone that had been ringing, till now. It was three on going calls from Utau. He said goodbye to the three and took the phone call. The last thing they heard from him was 'you again?' and 'the usual?' It seemed like Kukai and Utau had grown quite fond of each other already.

The two walked the rest of the way casually talking to each other and parted at the usual route with their usual goodbyes.

'Achoo!' Nagi sneezed once more. 'Who in the world…?' he whispered to himself, trailing off with the thought.

* * *

'Yup' Yaya said now waving her head left to right to a song she suddenly chanted.

'Rima-tan and Nagi-chan sitting in a tree-' Yaya said suddenly stopping to the dark aura she suddenly felt beside her.

Rima started thinking to herself 'Me and that best friend stealer? No way is that happening. I'm always so cold around him. I bet he's never even thought about it not once in his life! He would think of himself as a fool if he would let go of such a rivalry towards Amu and suddenly take interest in me. Even _I_ think it's out of the question!'

Rima was unconsciously giving off an aura of flickering anger and confusion that switched constantly in the while that it happened but impressively hid the stress marks from her forehead and maintained her calm appearance.

BEEP! BEEP! A watch buzzed. The three halted then, looked up at two directions. Rima looked at the other side of the sidewalk while Amu and Yaya looked up at a tree. Amu ignored the noise and realized what Rima was looking at.

'Oh, your mom's here Rima' Amu pointed out. Yaya looked at the car and they bade goodbye to each other. Yaya took the other route, already heading for a pastry shop where she said she was meeting with her mom and Tsubasa.

Amu walked the rest of the way alone, contented with another ordinary day. Rima on the other hand, took the usual displeasure of a car ride with her mom screaming on the phone with her dad. But today was unusual. She was smiling. She looked down at her bag and thought to herself. 'Me and Nagihiko huh?'

'Impossible!' her mother shouted at the phone oddly in cue with her thoughts.

'Impossible is just something that hasn't been done' she whispered to herself as she looked up seeing the smile on her face through the car's mirror.

'Wha'd he say?' Ginger asked Ruben as they rode on top of Ms. Mashiro's car unseen, unheard and untouchable.

'Blake says we better practice speaking English again' Ruben said calmly.

'No problem' she said in fluent English to the air that ruffled her hair and made her eyes water a little.

'You're tearing up' Ruben said also in English with a slight accent, wiping off the falling tear from Ginger's face with his thumb, the rest of his fingers cupped Ginger's face.

'Thanks' she replied.

That was the last English spoken between the two for the night. They separated stations; Ginger slept in Rima's house's living room couch while Ruben stayed restless in the Fujisaki Mansion's rooftop. Knowing his master, the very idea of this surprise made a horizon of ideas storm through his mind.

'Tomorrow huh?' Ruben thought to himself as he looked up at the starry night sky.

*** in this part of the story the only language spoken is English ***

At the other end of the world (I think) Ikuto, standing on top of a stage previously used in a small gathering, was enjoying the European atmosphere that he had started cradling in a soft violin piece in honor of his father.

These days he dedicates every song he plays to his father in hope that one of the audiences in the crowd might be familiar with him or his work.

Some time near the middle of the piece two girls walked beside him and addressed the audience with a pirouette. They glanced at each other, Ikuto standing between them, serenely continuing stroking the violin with his bow.

The two girls accompanied Ikuto's music with their graceful ballet. They started with a single spin with their arm positioned in front of them and the other above them in an elegant motion. More and more people came and soon enough his eyes were slowly closing, his lips curled into a smile.

'Splendid!' an Englishman from the crowd exclaimed after the piece ended and the two gave their final bow. The two girls bade goodbye to Ikuto after they exchanged numbers. Later on he and the Englishman were the only ones left. The man smiled politely at him. He wore a black suit, accompanied by a few more men behind him in the same style of clothes. Ikuto stepped down from the platform and held his instrument in one hand.

'That was a very interesting performance, very excellent indeed' the Englishman complimented.

'Thank you' he said with a respectful bow. The man held his hand out for him to shake and he did.

'I am Bradley Hampton. I understand your current situation, Mr. Tsukiyomi' the (rather old) man said as Ikuto turned his back sharply on the men and was placing his instrument back in its case.

'What situation?' he said sloppily.

'Word around here is you've been traveling the streets of Europe carrying your father's name' one of the men said.

'What about it?' he said and had now faced them.

'We would simply like to accompany you in your search' Mr. Hampton offered.

'We'll talk Sunday afternoon at…' another man said trailing off to look at something on his right. He pointed at a corner separated by a small alley.

'…that café' the man continued. They left by all of their goodbyes said by Mr. Hampton. He looked at the sign right over the café's door that said "Ecstasy".

'If I forget…' he said turning to the road in front of him. 'It's their problem' he added with a smirk.

* * *

'Its Thursday today, right Tadase-chan?' Yaya asked, looking at her paper. Tadase nodded in reply and looked at Yaya with a smile.

'Aren't you happy Yuiki-san?' Tadase said looking up at his bedroom's ceiling with both his arms behind him supporting his leaning back.

'Whaaa-t? Why would I be happy! I'm still doing homework!' Yaya wailed.

'But it's the last one' Tadase said as he turned his head at her, his brows slightly creased.

'Really? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!' Yaya screamed to the heavens. Her happiness caused her body to feel limp with nostalgia and fall on the tatami mat next to Tadase.

'You mean you haven't noticed?' Tadase wondered, his brows the same position but this time it had been added a smile to his amusement towards Yaya.

'Well, I was too busy with this math homework it flew out of my mind' Yaya said innocently blank at the ceiling.

He turned his gaze from Yaya to look at her paper. Most of the numbers had been answered. But something was very odd about it.

'You know you've been working on that number for a while' he said with a slightly accusing smile. Yaya sharply stood up, no words came from her open mouth at the loss of something acceptable to say.

'Yeah…' she said rolling her eyes to the side with childish shame. 'I'm stuck' she admitted. Her head fell forward in defeat along with her

'Haha, didn't I say you could just tell me if you don't understand something?'

'But I've been asking for too much help. It's starting to make me feel…bad' she said, her upper lips placing a small pout, with straightly furrowed eyebrows to match.

'Yeah, but I'm your tutor. I'm supposed to teach you what you don't get' Tadase explained, realizing he had no more time to be humored by Yaya. 'It's getting late' he said sneaking a glance at his wall clock.

'Well…maybe if I get another glance at it I can figure it out!' she said hope filling most her words. Tadase shook it off and held the paper somewhere between them where Yaya could see it.

'Here, the trick there is…' he said, continuing the lesson.

"Daily Report: Everything's gone into its rightful sequence, Blake. Amu's restless in bed. Ami's asleep. Rima's dreaming of a wedding between him and Nagihiko, who's dreaming the same thing for some reason. Yaya's with Tadase finishing up some math homework. Kukai and Utau are texting each other, already in bed. Finally, Ikuto had fallen asleep from that moment earlier that he had been deep in thought."

Ginger sent to 25253-474458 using her cellphone. "Message sent!" her cellphone read. She sighed in relief, glad to know that she surely put short everything that Ruben had reported on his side of the evening duty.

**Hey! Hey! I didn't just randomly pick those stupid numbers you know. If you look closely, your telephone would reveal those numbers with the letters Blake Ishiku. LOL. And the name Blake Ishiku isn't made up too! I remember it from somewhere off the net but whatever. I found one review in one of my favorite stories –Paranormal Attendance \m/- her pin name was Mystical_Melody_Girl something…something… at least I think o.o idk. I'm just surprised cos it's my penname on some site, or at least it's close to it **

**So, thanks so much for reading. Review guys! v(^-^)v**


	3. Chapter 3

'This morning is the absolute worst; having to get up early from bed, eating when I wasn't in the mood, hearing the wailing noises from my terribly inconvenient baby brother and yata-yata-yata' Yaya thought. She walked up to Seiyo Academy slouching, red-eyed, glum and very, very indifferent.

'Ohayo Yaya-sempai!' a group of students greeted from behind her. But Yaya was plainly not in the mood for people. She simply waved her hand dismissively as her back slouched with grief still written across her eyelids from shock the other night.

'What's wrong with Yaya-sempai?' she heard a girl whisper.

Today was just not her day. Unlike every other day she's lived, she's never felt this much depression eat her alive. If it wasn't for that terrible news she would be filled with happiness like always, having finished her homework last night with full understanding thanks to Tadase.

'DING DING-DING DING!' the bell rang stingily into her eardrums, making her head hurt. When class would end, never passed her mind today unlike any other day where all she would wait for during school hours was the final bell. She mentally groaned as she made her way past the desks in her classroom.

She flung her bag behind her back a lot too hard and lost her balance. The next thing she knew, she found herself lying on the floor and heard an annoying repeated call of her name.

'Yaya-chan! Yuiki-chan! AAAH! I don't know what to do! Wake up!' her irresponsible history teacher screeched right beside her left ear and made her wake up with a stunned gasp of shock. Also, thanks to her teacher her head ached worse than ever for her today.

'I'm fine… I'm fine-' Yaya said rubbing her head and experiencing the full pain waiting for her after the loud crash of her body hitting against the floor.

'Oh, gosh- you scared me!' her teacher said, sighing with relief.

'Well, anyway… Thanks sensei, I'll be heading off now' she said slowly standing up and dusting her uniform.

'Wrong' her teacher said, alarming her currently immobile stance beside the classroom door. Yaya's brows creased because of her teacher's oddly farfetched statement.

'Wrong about what? I need to go to a meeting' Yaya said, confusion stirring inside her, all her will set on getting away from the building and be anywhere else.

'I'm fine… that's what you failed to lie to me about. You see I've been very well trained being a single mom, the eldest sister and a history teacher.' Her teacher said proudly.

'Well, there's nothing to worry about.' She sighed.

'Yaya is innocent.' She said waving her hand with her back behind her teacher 'Yaya's fine, really! So see you, bye-' she stopped her foot from taking a step further when her teacher interrupted her not so sly escape.

'Look, all I wanna say before you go is some friendly advice' her teacher said. She could have sworn she felt dog ears flopping down from her head. Yaya stayed quiet and listened to her teacher, for once, like how students really should listen to their teachers.

'The load you carry inside gets a lot lighter when you tell someone about it.' Her teacher preached. Yaya smiled and began to settle herself.

'So before you go home I have an assignment for you.' her teacher said with a grin. The normal Yaya was screaming inside 'NO MORE ASSIGNMENTS! SAY NO! YOU SUFFER ENOUGH! HURRY UP AND LEAVE! SAY SOMETHING!'

'No.' Yaya said awkwardly. She then faked short, uncanny laughs at the realization of the atmosphere but unfortunately regained the conversation with her teacher.

'Hey, I'm just saying it would be a little nice if…'

The end of classes wasn't any better for her either. She walked numbly towards the Royal Garden for the Student Council Meeting recalling some of the things she heard along the corridors and even in her own classroom.

'_I hear Yuiki-san's math teacher freaked out this morning.'_

'_She was greatly improving in her academic status but she's dropped dead emotionally'_

'So insensitive, I bet they didn't even care how I felt if I heard… just like Mama and Tsubasa' Yaya thought.

'_I heard the same thing about her English teacher!'_

'_Who would've thought academic progress could be so fatal?' _

'_Maybe it's just that the Student Council work is getting to her-'_

'Yaya!' shouted two girls.

'Yuiki-san!' called two boys.

Yaya turned around to see Amu, Rima, Nagihiko and Tadase sprinting towards her. She stopped walking and faced them after the three came to a halt and took a few moments to catch their breath, while Nagihiko certainly had no problem with stopping normally due to his athletic stability.

'What's the matter?' Yaya questioned stiffly.

'We were worried about you' Nagihiko said, being the only person fit enough to speak up at the moment.

'We could always talk about it inside' Yaya reasoned blankly. Amu had her brows furrowed in disappointment at Yaya's deadpan attitude. She held out a box with a slice of cake in front of Yaya. Her pale eyes instantly went back to normal and she accepted the cake. Everyone beamed at her but sweat dropped after she turned around sharply and started walking away like a normal person would. The pigtailed girl was secretly cured inside, grinning widely with a little chibi drool appearing at the side of her mouth. She then, hurriedly went ahead of the others.

The four looked at each other in amusement, confusion and happiness. They all decided to get back to the matter, like Yaya said, back inside the Royal Garden.

Tadase opened the door and they found an empty platter and an overstuffed Yaya. They all did an anime fail, except for Rima who had dismissed Yaya's questionable behavior.

'Okay, we're in the Royal Garden now. Talk' she said with a business-like serious tone that detectives in movies use during interrogations. The only thing missing was a lamp as a spotlight.

Yaya rested her head on the table while her body fell limply down at her, the chair thankfully supporting her weight enough for her posture to be stable. Everyone else had joined her in the table that mysteriously had automatically set cutlery. All their stares made the child-at-heart feel very awkward about speaking and at the same time eaten by depression again, faster than the time she took eating Amu's present.

'You guys remember when I told you Mama wanted to meet with me after school?' the troubled Yaya said, staring at the broad space in front of her that was full of plants.

Amu and Rima nodded their heads while Nagihiko and Tadase listened further, creating the scenario in their heads.

'Well, she told me some pretty terrible news. She drove me to my weakness in case I would freak out.' She said.

'The pastry shop' everyone thought.

'So, she brought Tsubasa because Papa was at work and she couldn't leave Tsubasa in his terrible state. She said Tsubasa had this blahblah disease. Well, they told Auntie Griselda about it and she said she had a cure and insisted that Tsubasa should receive treatment from her in Europe. Mama and Papa will work harder here in Japan to pay off the expenses Euros are really expensive you know'

'What's the problem with that? Isn't it a solution?' Amu said interrupting Yaya's narration.

'I wasn't even finished yet!' Yaya exclaimed, not moving from her current position.

'So, you'll have to go with Tsubasa to Europe' Nagihiko theorized.

'CORRECT.' Yaya said heavily disappointed.

'How did you know Nagihiko?' Amu asked, amazed at how Nagihiko could've conjured up the thought.

'Of course, because he's a baby he can't go alone' Tadase figured.

'And because her parents need to work off the trip, they have no choice but to send Yaya' Rima said broadening the explanation.

'Wuuuh…huuuuh…' Yaya sobbed quietly in her seat, crossing her arms and burying her head in it.

The door opened and everyone turned their heads to the shining light coming from outside. They all squinted their eyes and used their arms to shield their faces. If you saw quite enough through the light you could see the shadow of a soccer ball being held between its waist and its arms, a wide grin playing across its lips, clearly proud of its astonishingly unnecessary entrance.

'Was that seriously Yaya crying?' rushed in a very worried Kukai, quickly dissolving the light and dropping the soccer ball. Everyone but Tadase did an anime fail at Kukai's questionable attitude while the blonde prince chuckled at his friend's unpredictable attitude.

Yaya's tears stopped instantly as Kukai ran up to her and looked like he was a crowd of people with unbelievably irritating questions because of his fast movements.

'WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!' she demonically shouted on purpose to hush him by looking like she was crying. Her failure was too evident that Kukai's face was scrunched up in thought.

'What happened?'

'She's getting sent to England with Tsubasa-chan to her witchdoctor Auntie' Amu chanted robotically, obviously still shocked at the awful news. Her face then scrunched up in thought.

'You're right, her Aunt's probably in England. That's where the real sorcery has been happening since the old times' Rima said.

'Well, how'd I know _that_?' Amu asked, surprised at herself.

'I don't know, maybe you accidentally mixed up Europe for England' Rima replied.

'I didn't know you were interested in those kinds of things Rima-chan' Nagihiko casually pointed out.

'W-well…' Rima said unintentionally stumbling over her own tongue at the sight of Nagihiko's gaze. She quickly recovered, thinking that everyone might get the wrong suspicion if she didn't speak up any time soon.

'I actually thought of charming my parents into a love potion. It was a pretty good idea to heal their hearts at first' I replied, softly sipping some tea to calm down.

'Then…? What happened?' Nagihiko said eyeing her closely, but looking bored with his chin softly resting on his fist to hide his interest.

'I-I abandoned the idea when I realized that even though I would get them to settle down for drink… it might' oddly continuing as if what she felt of this was nothing exceptional.

'Okay' Nagihiko said satisfactorily grinning at what her reaction had been the moment they had the conversation.

'Wipe that grin off your face. There's nothing to smile about' Rima scolded. She didn't understand why but he chuckled. It started as muffled giggles and was finally held back by him hiding his head in his arms like Yaya did. Nagihiko smiled his widest inside his cave-shaped arms then retreated his head in the air with his usual expression. Everyone was skeptical about his actions, Rima at most.

'What was that for?' Amu said grinning at her dubious friend, everyone shifting glances at one another, checking if they were all at the same page. Now, Kukai, who had been silent the whole time, spoke, deeming his presence undesirable at a time like this.

'Well, if it isn't –sniff- _affection_ in the air' Kukai humored, raising a brow at the pair.

'Oh, no.' Rima thought.

'Sempai, it's nothing special. Get back to your business, everything's fine here' Nagihiko said casually.

'Oh, tsk, tsk, tsk. How can you underestimate you sempai? I know just what that huge grin meant' Kukai said, taking a step between them, who were "incidentally" seated beside each other.

'I see this unbelievably dazzling SPARK between you and…Rima-chan' he said turning to Rima at the mention of her name with a witty mark of mirth on his face.

'That's right… he called me by my first name earlier… and I didn't react to it… as if… it was… normal…' Rima thought, her stare blank but her insides completely welling up. 'This will go to no good. He might arrange a wedding cosplay or a mushy love stage play… or worse. A DATE' she thought, seeing averagely deranged worst case scenarios for her age.

'Are you done yet, Mashiro-san?' said a grinning Kukai, completely reading everything in the girl's mind.

'We are _not_ having this conversation.' Rima said pushing aside the cup of tea over its saucer and picking up her bag. She turned to the two girls. They took it as a gesture of a friendly idea so they walked with her outside. They reached the door and awkwardly said goodbye. Nagihiko ogled Kukai while Tadase set away the cutlery.

'Nice move, you scared them off' Nagihiko said standing up.

'Hey, I just pointed out some cute, innocent, puppy love. It isn't even worth a date… yet' Kukai said with a huge grin.

'Don't.' He said smiling with a dark aura hiding beneath his words. Kukai left the room with a worried, innocent-playing whistle. Tadase wasn't the last to leave the room though. Nagi stayed and lay back in his chair again after helping Tadase clean up.

'It's a start' the boy thought letting loose his long purple hair behind his chair, leaning heavily on it.

'Ah… what will it take to make or break this hint of love?' Nagihiko chanted, shut eyed, alone in the Garden, and deep in thought of fully blossoming bliss…


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimers: I do not own Shugo Chara or any of its characters. Any information in the story is purely fiction and is purely coincidental. Blah. Blah. And finally, Blah. **

**Btw: is that how you say it? :)) **

**Bah. Now On With The Story~!**

"Rima, where are we going?" Amu asked, glancing around the unfamiliar area that the blonde had led them to. Rima's stare remained its focus on the road, while Yaya, bent her head down as she clung beside Amu. The pinkette noticed her silence.

"Rima?' Amu asked again, almost bumping into Rima as she suddenly stopped walking.

"We're here." Rima said. Amu and Yaya looked up at what Rima was looking at. The store had a hanging board shaped like a toy car that read "Kids at Play".

Bell chimes rang as Rima opened the door. Yaya was staring at some kid eating ice cream from the glass window and didn't catch the door on time.

"Yaya!" Amu panicked as she hurriedly pushed the door from Yaya's stunned face.

"Are you alright?" Rima asked as Amu giggled slightly. "You need to pay more attention to your surroundings, Yaya. You've been really distracted lately." Rima advised.

"No, no, that was actually pretty normal" Amu smiled, seeing the cause, a little girl's mouth covered in Pistachio Ice Cream. 'That's good. She's back… even a little bit.' Amu thought.

"Caramel & Fudge and Cookies & Cream, oh and a mango shake please" Rima ordered at the cashier.

"Why would Rima-chii wanna go to a place like this?" Yaya said, looking around at the happy, energetic atmosphere of kids running around the indoor playhouse for 3 year olds.

Amu glanced back at the counter, seeing Rima approach their table with a mango shake in hand and a teenage boy behind her, carrying two ice cream cones.

"Rima…" she sweat dropped. Rima joined them in the table as the boy politely smiled at them.

"Ah, let me take these off your hands. Thank you very much for your trouble. Sorry for the bother" Amu said handing Yaya her ice cream and giving a little bow to the boy.

"Nah, don't mention it." He beamed. "I'm Tarou by the way" the boy introduced.

"Hinamori Amu" she said, shaking Tarou's hand. Amu turned to the other two "That's Rima and Yaya" she said gesturing her palm at the mention of their names.

"Right… so what're you doing here?" Tarou asked, putting his hands in his pocket. Rima raised a skeptical brow at his question and he quickly cleared it off "No, I meant, I don't see a kid with you or anything" he shrugged.

"Actually… we don't know… why we're here… either…" Yaya glanced at Amu, constantly licking her ice cream.

"Oh, in that case…"

"Mio-chan and Kazu-kun meet Amu-oneechan, Yaya-oneechan and Rima-oneechan" Tarou sighed at the long introduction. Amu waved shyly at the two and smiled uncomfortably.

"Girls, meet my siblings" Mio, the 4 year old little girl stared at the three girls while the older little boy handed Rima the small plastic ball he was playing with a while ago. Rima stared at the blue ball in her hands then diverted her gaze to the little boy.

"Nee-chan is pretty" the little boy smiled, then ran off to the ball pit corner, her little sister chasing along behind him. Tarou and Rima

The little girl sighed "Kazu-niitan is weak" she said, going the other way with Amu and Yaya following her tracks silently. The three reached an open space; there was a wall that contained three slides, two other corners had ball shooters and a net around it to see the ball pit corner with and the last, a path that led to the trampoline floored part of the playhouse.

Mio positioned herself into the mouth of the second slide, not even looking back at the two. The silence still lived. Mio frowned

"Well, whatcha waiting for? We going sliding or not?" the little girl squeaked. Yaya lit up "Yaay~!" she cheered and went for the slide on Mio's left.

"Here we go" Amu said after they've all gotten settled.

"1… 2...-" Amu counted. "WAAH~!" they all squealed, sliding down because of Mio's palms pushing them forcefully off the edge of the seat that held their bottoms almost securely from falling.

"That was one of the best five seconds I've spent all day" Yaya said, her feet felt shaky as did Amu's.

"You guys are weak in the knees already? Man, you're getting old! Well, I'm used to it. I do this all the time!" the little girl exclaimed energetically.

"I thought you were all gentle and timid…" Amu sweat dropped, recalling the soft spoken little five year old she assumed would be an easy playmate.

"She's gone!" Yaya screamed, completely in shock.

"What? I say one thing and she's run off somewhere else!" Amu said moving towards a random direction.

"C'mon, maybe she went this way…" she trailed off.

"Ah, don't run so fast, wait for me!" a bent Rima panted following a few feet behind the little boy, being sadly surpassed by a group of little kids.

"Nee-chan hurry! We're not gonna be here all day you know!" Kazu half-whined, laughing at her. "You're even blocking Tarou-niitan's way!" the little boy giggled as he slid down a pole and run off towards who knows where.

"Ahahaha, it's alright Rima-chan, just go on your own pace!" Tarou advised with a thumbs up, behind her when she hesitated holding the pole, much less slide down it.

"Nagihiko…" Rima whispered almost inaudibly, the purple-head occupying her thoughts.

"What was that?" Tarou asked. Rima smiled and shrugged "It's nothing" she said as she slid down confidently.

"Kazu-chan…! Kazu-chan…!" Rima called calmly.

"Kazu…" Rima trailed off seeing a KO-ed Amu on the ball scattered ground and Yaya shielding herself with her arms. She looked up to see a red cannon ball focused on the pair with the little 5 year old girl grinning evilly behind it. Yaya travelled the ball pit carefully, acknowledging my presence.

'She's completely safe behind that net! I can't hit her! All I can do now is protect myself~?' Yaya thought while inching closer and closer to Rima bit by bit.

"Oho, you're good, kid" Yaya challenged. Mio frowned and an army of plastic balls came bulleting down on her. "BAH…! That hurt…!" Yaya pretended sloppily. Rima rolled her eyes 'Who would believe such evidently fake acting.' The little girl started laughing and gathering more balls to shoot at Yaya, murmuring about 'Getting her good' and 'Showing her who's boss.' Rima sweat dropped and Yaya quickly hid behind her, using her small figure as a shield, which increased the marks on her forehead twofold. She poked Yaya away with her finger and she retreated behind the now conscious Amu.

Tarou finally caught up and settled his stance on the ball pit beside Rima. He glanced at me and looked up "Hey, what's going-" he was hit by an army of green and blue plastic balls.

"I found Kazu-chan" Rima deadpanned. "What are you doing behind me? How'd I fall on the ground? Wha-" Amu was hit again by the manic little Mio.

The two kids raised their united fists up in the air, hysterically laughing and signifying alliance.

"That's it then" Yaya said. She pulled the two up and held their hands, attempting the same alliance. "You leave us no choice" she continued.

"BALL WAR!" Yaya screamed alone. "BALL WAR?" both Tarou and Amu dropped jaws and thought what they did to be punished like this. Yaya's brows scrunched up at the tension of the upcoming battle and pushed forward the two to be in front of her as shield (again).

"AAAAAH~!"

"What a day" Tarou said. Everyone sighed in unison as response. The two children had fallen asleep on the laps of their nee-chans-for-a-day…s(?).

"Aw, don't they look cute when their asleep?" Amu gazed at the innocent sleeping faces below them. "Yeah, when their not shooting at us" Yaya replied negatively.

"Hm, but I had a lot of fun today" Amu slouched, giving a wide smile to the ceiling, her head leaning on the edge of the back rest.

"Even though they're so much work" Yaya nodded.

"I think it's refreshing to have a littler someone to go through every day with" Rima added thoughtfully.

"They're still a lot of responsibility though" Yaya turned her head, Tsubasa suddenly popping in the conversation wittily.

"They're company in the house when it gets lonely" Rima contradicted.

"They look up to you and sometimes you're just eager to come to them and tell them how everything's gonna be… how you've dealed with it before and how they're supposed to deal with it too…" Amu said trailing off past heavy eyelids, which in a matter of seconds shut close.

"_Tsubasa-chii stop crying!" Yaya wailed, her hands supporting her baby brother who was now hiding his head behind her shoulders. She recalled Tsubasa watching TV and getting scared of the clown._

"_It's just a clown! It's a funny clown!" Yaya panicked. She balled her fists in determination and kneeled beside the TV after putting Tsubasa on the couch and was starting to settle much to her surprise._

"_Look!" Yaya beamed. "tara ran tara ran tarara ran!" Yaya sang dancing the Peter Panda Dance from an American movie the watched the other day called The Pacifier. _

"_Yaya-chan? What's all the noise about?" their mother rushed in warily, only to see a giggling Tsubasa on the couch._

"_Ahaha, just playing around" Yaya said air spinning Tsubasa in her hands. Her mother noticed the TV show they were watching- Yo Gabba, Gabba._

"_Yaya-chan you've been watching that show again, that's why Tsubasa got scared" her mother said._

"_But we cant have our future SUPERMAN! be afraid of a bunch of clowns now can we?" Yaya said fiddling with the baby's toes and raising them up slightly._

"They're really something…" Rima said, slowly falling asleep with Amu.

"Yeah… yeah, you're right Rima-chii" Yaya realized.

Yaya came home to a quiet living room. She roamed the rest of the house and checked up stairs first- no one. She then reached the kitchen, to her strongest suspicion was where her mother was rocking a blue crib (where a sleeping Tsubasa lay) and rubbing her temple with her free hand.

'I'm back Mama' Yaya greeted, awkwardly wrapping her arms around her mother.

"Yaya-chan, welcome back" her mother greeted, took her hands away from Tsubasa's crib and held her daughter's shoulders gently, looking straight into Yaya's eyes.

"Mama…"

"No, Yaya –chan it's alright if you don't want t-"

"That's too bad then Mama, I was really looking forward to how a British uniform would look on me" Yaya smiled.

"Aw, my darling" her mother embraced her, a film of tears formed round her closed eyelids.


End file.
